The overnight news of Dominique Strauss-Kahnâ€™s resignation sets up a global battle over who will succeed him in the IMFâ€™s glass-and-steel headquarters in Washington. But, of course, thatâ€™s not the only fight in town.

The bipartisan group of budget negotiators now known as the Gang-of-Six-Minus-One is expected to meet today to try to salvage hopes of a budget compromise after a shouting match over Medicare sent Republican Senator Tom Coburn to the exit door.

Medicare is the third-rail political issue that recently had Republicans showing signs of retreating from House Budget Chief Paul Ryanâ€™s Republican reform plan. Critics call it aÂ blueprint for privatizing the federal governmentâ€™s healthcare program for the elderly.

But all politics is local. And the national Medicare litmus test is likely to take place far from Washington.

A proxy war over Medicare-as-2012-campaign-issue is shaping up around next weekâ€™s special congressional election in one of New Yorkâ€™s most conservative districts, where the Ryan plan has given Democrats the chance for an upset. Â Conservative groups are pouring tons of money into theÂ contest andÂ veteranÂ Capitol Hill staffers are expected toÂ parachute in soon to help get out the vote.

The Medicare issue is the sameÂ albatross thatÂ startedÂ hanging out withÂ Newt Gingrich this week, after the Republican White House candidate trashed the Ryan reform plan as right wing â€śsocial engineering.â€ť The former House speaker apologized amid a storm of criticism from fellow conservatives. Heâ€™s since had â€śhelpâ€ť from potential presidential rival Sarah Palin, who in a TV appearance urged him not to back down in the face of â€¦ lamestream media criticism? hmmmÂ â€¦ butÂ who otherwise made sure she underscoredÂ his offending language.

Palin, who has been in and out of the spotlight in recent months,Â says sheâ€™s still considering a White House run. That could make for a niceÂ rumble between her andÂ Michele Bachmann, that other woman in Republican circles whoÂ rivals Palin asÂ an outspoken darling of the Tea Party movement.

But the real 2012 campaign action today is in New Hampshire, where former Utah governor and U.S. ambassador to China Jon Huntsman begins a campaign-style tour of the early voting state — also known as potential GOP frontrunner Mitt Romney’s backyard.

Huntsman is little known among voters and comes with a whole package of moderate positions on things like gay rights and climate change. Just the sort of thing conservatives like to hear about.

But if the current storm clouds over Medicare signal a swing back to the center for Republican and independent voters, five months after the Tea Party stormed the House, Huntsman could be the only Republican waiting there to greet them.

[...] Let's fight?Reuters Blogs (blog)That could make for a nice rumble between her and Michele Bachmann, that other woman in Republican circles who rivals Palin as an outspoken darling of the Tea Party movement. But the real 2012 campaign action today is in New Hampshire, where former …Ad wars heat up in what's turned into a proxy battle over MedicareCNN Political Ticker (blog)Former NYT Reporter Egan Opines on GOP's 'Need for Greed' to Pass Ryan's …NewsBusters (blog)all 965 news articles » [...]

[...] Let's fight?Reuters Blogs (blog)That could make for a nice rumble between her and Michele Bachmann, that other woman in Republican circles who rivals Palin as an outspoken darling of the Tea Party movement. But the real 2012 campaign action today is in New Hampshire, where former …Ad wars heat up in what's turned into a proxy battle over MedicareCNN Political Ticker (blog)Former NYT Reporter Egan Opines on GOP's 'Need for Greed' to Pass Ryan's …NewsBusters (blog)all 976 news articles » [...]

[...] Let's fight?Reuters Blogs (blog)That could make for a nice rumble between her and Michele Bachmann, that other woman in Republican circles who rivals Palin as an outspoken darling of the Tea Party movement. But the real 2012 campaign action today is in New Hampshire, where former …Former NYT Reporter Egan Opines on GOP's 'Need for Greed' to Pass Ryan's …NewsBusters (blog)all 1,038 news articles » [...]

[...] Let's fight?Reuters Blogs (blog)That could make for a nice rumble between her and Michele Bachmann, that other woman in Republican circles who rivals Palin as an outspoken darling of the Tea Party movement. But the real 2012 campaign action today is in New Hampshire, where former …Former NYT Reporter Egan Opines on GOP's 'Need for Greed' to Pass Ryan's …NewsBusters (blog)all 1,008 news articles » [...]

Author Profile

David Morgan has covered news from Wall Street and Fleet Street to the White House, the Pentagon and Congress, including politics, macroeconomics, military affairs, corporate finance, U.S. intelligence, national security and the international markets. He has also reported from Atlanta on the rise of American conservatism, civil rights, homegrown terrorism and the Olympics, and helped chronicle the Sept. 11 attacks and their aftermath from Philadelphia, New York and Washington.